ABOUT DAMN TIME

01.23.14

Morocco Amends Rape-Marriage Law

Youssef Boudlal/Reuters

In 2012, a 16-year-old girl poisoned herself after being forced to marry her rapist. Now, finally, Morocco’s Islamist-led government has amended the penal code allowing rapists of underage girls the ability to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims. In rural areas, a woman who has been raped was seen as unfit for marriage, so marrying the rapist was believed to address that problem. Rights groups estimate that one women in four in Morocco is the victim of violence.